A love which survived war to flourish for more than 60 years in the heart of the Potteries

Although Lillian Dean’s husband Bill, sadly, passed away in 2009, the pair were married for the best part of seven decades. Here she talks about romance, the key to a good marriage and how the pair met...

It was in the midst of WW2 that a young Lillian came into contact with, what unbeknownst to her, would be the love of her life and partner for the next 64 years.

Bill had returned from the frontline having being serving in the battle of Anzio, where he suffered an injury whilst defending his country. Lillian, 91, recalls the wounds her future husband suffered whilst overseas.

“He had been wounded in his right leg whilst fighting, however that wasn’t the last of it. On the journey back the medical ship he was being transported home on was attacked which left him with another severe injury, this time to his left leg.”

Bill and Lillian, centre, on their wedding day which happened while Bill was on leave from the army in 1945

The trauma suffered by Bill to his left leg would eventually see him require surgery to remove the majority of the muscle leaving him with minimal muscle on the thigh of his leg, through the remainder of his life.

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A reflective Lillian, who refers to her age as 90 plus one, knows exactly why her life with Bill was such a happy and long one:

“Love, Honesty and being open with each other not trying to be something or someone else.

"He used to write me love letters when he was serving in the army, he wrote one to me on Valentines day."

The letter of which Lillian speaks is still in tact to this day, written in small font on both sides of a piece of A1 paper.

“We both, always loved dancing and singing they were a big part of our lives from when we first met - it was an interest we shared.”

Lillian with the love letter Bill wrote to her during WW2

It is that sense of love, which despite it being 10 years since Bill’s passing, Lillian still obviously feels today as she sits in front of me smiling and dispensing her pearls of wisdom as to what goes into a happy and long marriage:

“Later we used have a lot of holidays to Benidorm and made a lot of good friends over there, friends are important they help toward a good relationship.”